


Poor Little Rich Girl

by Pastelgothlapis



Category: Epithet Erased (Cartoon)
Genre: Also meras trans that’s very important to the story, Also yes I stole the title from a zack and cody episode but it’s fitting for Mera so shut up, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I can have a little Mera introspective... as a treat, also I hc her birthday as July 25th bc she’s so dramatic she has to be a leo, as always tho there’s bright spots and a positive ending bc only losers like sad endings, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:13:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25520071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pastelgothlapis/pseuds/Pastelgothlapis
Summary: It’s easy to think about the future when your present is less than ideal. It’s harder to think about the past when your present is what it is. And sometimes you don’t know what you need until it falls into your lap. Mera has been through it all and reflects on it on her birthday.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	Poor Little Rich Girl

Mera hadn’t quite told the truth at Sylvie’s sweet sixteen. Her own sixteenth birthday hadn’t been bad necessarily, but she could also say it was definitely a turning point. A point where she realized if she didn’t do something to change her situation that time would be a picture of what her whole life would be like. In the month leading up to it Mera begged and begged her parents for a big party. She’d had birthday parties every year before with her parents but she wanted that year to be truly special. She had come out only a few months before and this was going to be her first chance to dress up in all the beautiful gowns she had coveted for so long. It was going to be her first chance to have the kind of birthday party a normal girl who wasn’t sick all the time got to have. And she wanted to make the most of it now that she was finally going to get it. 

The night before her birthday she sat there, in her canopy bed slowly brushing her now shoulder length hair, staring at the black and lavender lace gown she had picked out on one of the rare days she felt good enough to leave the house. She felt like maybe things were finally looking up, they weren’t perfect but she was finally getting to feel like herself in her body, she would have much preferred to feel like herself without pain but for now she would take what she could get. As she slowly drifted off to sleep listening to the sounds of the cool July night she happily imagined her what her party would be like, the cake the presents, the camera, it would all be there and it would be perfect, or at least she hoped so. 

When she awoke she felt far more cheerful than usual. She stepped out of her bed and into her pink slippers with far more creaking and cracking than any normal sixteen year old but she paid it little mind. She picked up her purple flip phone to check the time, 11:38am July 25th 2012, the day she was going to feel like a princess. She decided to carefully change into her gown even before breakfast, she didn’t want to waste a second that she could be wearing such a beautiful and extravagant piece. After slowly changing into the dress she poked her head out of her room. “Hey dad! Can you get the camera ready I’m gonna come downstairs in a sec and I’m wearing the dress!” With her shout came two replies, an “On it, honey!” From her father and a “Do you need any help with the dress?” From her mother. Mera responded with a slightly annoyed voice. “I’m fine mom!”

While it was true that she was managing with the dress, as slow as she had to go to avoid hurting herself, she was grateful to have her parents looking out for her, even if she had a hard time admitting it to them. She hesitantly peeked out of her room and excitedly walked to the staircase. She saw her dad waiting with the camera at the bottom of the steps, took a breath and clutched the banister for dear life as she went down the stairs. As she reached the bottom she posed for the camera and gave an earnest smile that seemed less pained than usual. For at least a little bit she really did get to feel like royalty. After that the day seemed to fly by, but Mera couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. 

She had her cake, a two tiered plain vanilla cake with icing roses reading ‘Happy 16th Birthday Mera’ in blue cursive. As she slowly ate her birthday cake something bothered her, she sat at a huge elegant dining table, in a huge elegant dining room and yet it felt so empty. Her parents were there, but they always were. She glanced at the empty seats at the table that could have easily hosted over a dozen people and imagined the kind of elegant dinner parties her parents must have held once upon a time. Before she came along. Before she got sick. Before she ruined everything for them. She shook the thought from her head, there was no sense in making herself sad on her special day after all. 

The presents were a bit better. Her mother held the camera to record her as she unwrapped fashionable pajamas, night gowns, slippers and even the occasion fancy doll or casual outfit that wasn’t just for staying at home. In between presents she found herself thinking, why didn’t this seem fun? What was missing? As the day went on the thoughts became harder and harder to shake from her head. She couldn’t quite articulate it then, but what she was missing was friends. She longed for them but she just couldn’t see them as a part of her future then. Back then she saw her future as just being the fragile girl. The girl who doesn’t have any friends. The girl who can’t do anything by herself because she might break. Things felt bleak to her, which is why she often avoided thinking about the future because all she could see was the potential for unhappiness. In the end her sixteenth birthday was fine, she got her special day and everything she hoped for but it felt like a hollow victory, a victory soured for a lack of something she hadn’t even considered or realized she wanted yet. 

Back in the present, on July 25th 2020, Mera looked around her apartment and realized that maybe, just maybe her life hadn’t turned out to be as hopeless and empty as she felt it was going to be when she turned sixteen. There had been ups and downs and she had definitely done things she wasn’t proud of. But when she looked around at all of her friends, Indus bringing out the cake, Giovanni setting out her presents and Molly and Sylvie blowing up balloons she felt pretty good about how things had turned out. She was surrounded by everything she ever truly wanted back then, she had all the beautiful gowns and dolls she hadn’t been allowed to have for so many years, and even though she was still fragile, she was herself and she was stronger than ever because she had her friends.

**Author's Note:**

> It feels really good to write for Mera again tbh, if you liked this be sure leave a comment and kudos! It’s support from readers like you that keeps me writing! Also be sure to check out my other fics and my tumblr @pastelgothlapis if you’re so inclined!


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